I find the story unbelievable.
As Warner Wolf used to say “Lets go to the videotape.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xz87CBta-9Q
In it you can see them try to go behind the counter and the manager is not having it.
In this video you can see the manager on the phone and I just bet she was calling the law. There is no sound but who wants to bet she and her staff were threatened and she used her wits not to become like that Popeye’s manager.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0MZJa3-JFY
I agree. Could be the two “ladies” got violent. And the manager reacted in self-defense.